Method of manipulating thread or the like



1941- I L. J. JORDAN 2,227,718 ,7

METHOD OF MANIPULATING THREAD OR THE LIKE 7 Original Filed Dec. 24, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet l 3nnentor attorney Jm7, 1941. JORDAN 2,227,718

METHOD OF MANIPULATING THREAD OR THE LIKE Original Filed Dec. 24, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 3nventor LJVERN /ORDAN Gttomeg Jan. 7, J JORDAN 2,227,718

METHOD OF MANIPULATING THREAD OR THE LIKE Original Filed Dec. 24, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheef. 3

ZSnnentor LA VERN /0RDAN Patented Jan. 7, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Lavern I. Jordan, Fairview Village, Ohio, assignor to Industrial Rayon Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application December 24, 1936, Serial No. 117,503 Renewed June 12, 1940 x l iClaims.

invention relates to a method of and means for manipulating thread or the like, hereinaiter referred to as thread. a The invention has especial utility. in connection with the production of artificial silk thread 7 or the like by the process according to which the artificial silk thread or the like is subjected to each of its necessary liquid processing treatments while it isbeing advanced in the form of 0 a plurality of" generally helical turns along the exterior of a thread-advancing reel. In this process, the artificial silk thread or the like is advanced in turn over each of a large number of reels, after which it is gathered in or'on a collecting device. Since the reels are spaced I the artificial silk thread or the like from one reel to another by a purely manual operation pursuant to which the operator picks the advancing thread end, which may or may not be washed under, ofi a preceding reel, brings it into juxtal position with the reel on which it is to be caused to wind, and applies it to the surface thereof. after which it winds itself thereon in more or less orderLv-iashion; As will be recognized, this is a difllcult and time-consuming task. The difflculty involved in accomplishing this transfer is magnified by the fact :that the artificial silk thread or the like must be removed from a rapidly rotating reel and applied to another rapidly rotating reel. Moreover, artificial silk thread or the like tends, when wet, to cling tenaclously to the reel, making diiiicult its removal without breakage. a l I According to thempresent invention, thread or the like, particularly artificial silk thread or the like, may be readily removed, from a rapidly rotating thread-advancing reel and passed to receiving means comprising anotherthread-advancing reel or some other form of thread-handling device,thus effecting an expeditious thread W'transferM AlthOugh the invention is obviously capable offluse in connection with the manipulation ofithreaidof all kinds, irt finds particularly advantageous use in the manufacture of artificial silk thread by the so-called continu- 1 ous process. It will be described hereinafter for illustrative, purposes as employed in the manufacture of viscose artificial silk thread, although it may, if desired, be employed in the cellulose acetate, cu-prammonium and nitrocellulose processes. 5 In the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a iront elevation of aportion of a viscose thread-processing apparatus comprising a plurality of threadadvanc'lng devices of cantileverform; Figure 2 10 is a corresponding side elevation; Figure 3 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of a threadremoving tool capable of use in the practice of the invention; Figure 4 is a diagrammatic representatlon, in front elevation, of one of the 15 steps involved in effecting a thread transfer: Figure 5 is a side elevation corresponding to Figure 4; Figure 6 is a front elevation representatlon of the next succeeding step; Figure 7 is a side elevation corresponding to Figure 6; Figure 20 8 similarly illustrates in diagrammatic fashion the next step involved in making the transfer; Figure 9 is a side elevation corresponding to Figure 8; Figure 10 is a like diagrammatic representation of the following step involved in 25,

Referring first .to Figures 1 and2 of the draw 3 ings, the thread-advancing reels] and 2 are disposed adjacent each other in stepped relation in the manner shown, each being adapted to receive a continuous thread intendedto be processed thereon. The latter, after it has had time 40 to complete its passage over the upper reel I, p is to be removed therefrom and passed to reel 2. After: completing its passage over reel 2, the thread is to be passed to a succeeding reel disposed in the same relationship toreel 2 as that 45 which exists between reels I and 2 or, if desired, to a collecting device. In the drawings, the thread is designated by the character 3. a

Each of these reels consists of one set of bar members 4 and a second set of interdigitatlng bar members 5, these two sets of barmemhers being disposed about axes which are ofl'se t and inclined with respect to each other. Between the adjacent bar members are radially d spo d spaces'i. The thread is automatically advanced as in general helical form along the reels, in consequence of which fact the reels may be described as self-threading. The reels are supported and driven at one end only, the other end being free and unobstructed. A reel of this general construction is shown and described in detail in application Serial No. 7,114, filed February 18, 1935, in the names of Walter F. Knebusch and Alden I-I. Burkholde'r.

To accomplish the removal of the thread 3 from the upper reel, the tool illustrated in Figure 3 is utilized. It embodies an elongated handle portion I and a thread-enga ing portion 8.

The thread-engaging portion 8 preferably takes outer end of the thread-engaging portion 8 be of hooked formation as, for example, of the arcuate shape shown, although it may be practicable, if desired, to utilize a tool in which the thread-enga ng portion 8 of the wire is straight.

Before attempting to make the thread transfer, it is desirable to allow the thread to advance over the upper reel and accumulate as an annular bundle I at the free end thereof. The presence of this bundle materially assists in accomplishing the thread transfer inasmuch as it provides a mass which is more compact and strong than a single thread. in consequence of which fact it may, be more easily handled. At the start of the thread-removing operation, the

thread-engaging portion 8 of the tool is poised asshown in Figure 2 forward of the free end of the upper reel. From the position shown in Figure 2, the tool is quickly thrust into the reel and given a simultaneous upward motion through one of the spaces 6 to assume the position shown in Figures 4 and 5. As shown in these figures,

' the bundle ll atthe end of'the reel is about to be engaged by. the tool, as are alsoseveral "toward the unobstructed end thereof so as to cause the tool to assume the position shown in Figures 6 and 7, the upper portion of the leadgoing to make up annular bundle I4 but the several turns immediately behind the annular bundle H are pulled off the reel in this manner. Continued movement of the tool'away from the reel pulls all the turns of thread engaged by the tool entirely away from the reel, as shown in Figures 8. and 9. The thread so. removed being entlrely'free of the reel, it may be carried either to anext succeeding reel or; to some suitable collectingdevice, which may take any desired form.

As shown inFigures 1c and 11, the thread-3 removed from the upper reel I has been carried down to and into juxtaposition with-the reel 2 along which; it is desired that the thread shall next advance. The location of the point of ini- .tial contact of the thread with the lower reel 2 1 thread 3 and the exterior of the reel 2.

contactwith the reel 2 at a point near the free end thereof. Due to the contact of the thread be caught'upon the tool.

3 with the reel 2 and the tendency of the wet thread to cling to the surface of the reel, it is carried by the rotation thereof around the reel in the manner shown in Figures 12 and 13. Inasmuch as some'of the thread must remain upon 5 the tool due to its being caught thereon, continued rotation of the reel 2 will serve to break the thread between the tool and the reel, freeing the tool. The thread end l5 which remains on the reel is caused by rotation thereof to advance toward the unobstructed end of the reel.

Since the thread, after having once become established on a succeeding reel, tends to run toward thesucceeding reel in a direction which is perpendicular to the axis of that reel, the thread being supplied from the upper reel I feeds back on its own accord toward the supported end of the lower reel 2, as shown in Figure 13. After a sufflcient amount of rotation of the lower reel 2 has occurred, the thread coming from the upper reel I will have moved back on the lower reel 2 to a point vertically below the point from which the thread leaves the upper reel I. Thereafter, the thread will advance in orderly fashion along the lower reel 2 and a uniform spacing of the thread in generally helical turns will be produced. When the thread has advanced along the lower reel 2 and has accumulated at the free end thereof to form a bundle I, as shown in Figures 14 and 15, this bundle It may be removed for transfer to another reel or to some thread-handling device in the manner above outlined.

While it is not essential that the turns immediately behind the bundle I4 at'the unobstructed 35 end of the reel be caught by the tool as above explained, this is a preferable procedure inasmuch as it peelsback the thread from the free end of the reel. By the time the leading end of thread has been passed either to a succeeding u thread-advancing reel or to some other form of thread-collecting device, the thread remaining upon the upper reel i will have advanced along the reel to af oint close to the unobstructed end thereof. If the several turns of thread behind the bundle are not caught by the tool at the time of thread transfer; that is, if they are allowed to remain upon the reel ,while the removed thread is being transferred, it is likely that these :turns of thread will have advanced to the free end of the reel and have either fallen off or started to form a bundle which will interfere with, the transfer of the thread. It has beenv found that, by peeling several thread turns off the free end of the reel with the bundle I4, by the time the thread has started to advance in normal manner along the lower reel, the regularly spaced turns upon the upper reel will have about reached the free end of the reel; so that normal operation may be instituted.

. I a While it has been suggested above that the tool be thrust toward the center of the reel and moved in an upward direction, it is by no means necessary to do it in this fashion in order to carry out the invention. Thread removal can 05 be eflected'equally 'well by thrusting the tool either'laterally or downward with respect to the reel. It, is only of importance that the turns of thread which are 'to be removedfrom the reel It has, however, been found thatbecause'of the rapidity with which thread removal must be effected, the operation in question is best accomplished by thrusting the tool upward. Y

The removal of thread from the upper reel must necessarily be accomplished rapidly inasmuch as the reel is being rotated; that is. the succeeding steps represented by Figures 2, 5, 7 and 9 follow each other in rapid order and ordinarily will be carried out as part of one continuous motion. The fact that the thread removal and transfer as here described can be accomplished while the reel is rotating is of particular advantage since the thread being handled is ordinarily being supplied continuously from its source. It should be understood that while the steps illustrated are preferably parts of a continuous motion, the interval of time represented between the steps is not necessarily equal, the particular steps being shown to illustrate the more important stages in the operation without attempting to select steps at uniformly timed intervals. 7

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty reside in the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of removing thread from a thread store device supported only at one end thereof along the periphery of which the thread is advanced in a large number of generally helical turns comprising allowing several turns of thread to accumulate as a bundle at the unsupported end of the device, separating said bundle from succeeding turns of thread by means of a tool, and drawing said bundle by means of said tool of! the unsupported end of the device.

2. The method of removing thread from a thread store device supported only at one end thereof along the periphery of which the thread is advanced in a large number of generally helical turns comprising allowing several turns of thread to accumulate as a bundle at the unsupported end of the device, picking up said bundle, together with one or more of the turns following said bundle, with a tool, and drawing said bundle and said turns by means of said tool oil the unsupported end of the device.

3. The method of removing thread from a thread store device supported only at one end thereof along the periphery of which the thread is advanced in a large number of generally helical turns comprising simultaneously hooking a plurality of turns of the thread at the unsupported end of the device on a tool and then drawing the tool with thread turns hooked thereon clear of the device.

4. The method of removing thread from a cantilever thread-advancing reel supported only at one end thereof along the periphery of which the thread is advanced in a large number of generally helical turns comprising allowing several turns of thread to accumulate as a bundle at the unsupported end of the reel, inserting a hook back of said bundle, and drawing said bundle off the unsupported end of the reel by means of said hook.

5. The method of removing thread from a cantilever thread-advancing reel supported only at one end thereof along the periphery of which the thread is advanced in a larger number of generally helical turns comprising allowing several turns of thread to accumulate as a bundle at the unsupported end of the reel, thrusting a thread-engaging tool into the interior of the reel from the unsupported end thereof, picking up said bundle with said tool by moving said tool in a generally radial direction with respect to the axis of said reel, and drawing said bundle by means of said tool on the unsupported end of the reel.

6. The method of removing thread from a thread store device supported only at one end thereof along the periphery of which the thread is advanced in a large number of generally helical turns comprising engaging a plurality of said turns with a thread-engaging tool by inserting said tool between two successive turns of thread upon the periphery of said thread store device,

said thread-engaging tool being inserted from the interior of the device, and drawing said turns off the unsupported end of the device.

'7. The method of removing thread from a thread store device supported only at one end CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,227,718. January 7, 191m.

LAVERN J. JORDAN.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, sec- 0nd column, line 17, for the word "on" read -v-of--; page 5, second column, line 1, claim 5, strike out "then"; line 2, same claim, after with insert -'the-; line 17, claim 5, for "larger" read largeand that the said Letters Patent should be 'read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 25th daj of February, A. D. 1914.1.

Henry Van Arsdale, Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

